Thursday, August 25, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

A letter to Canadians from the Honourable Jack Layton

August 20, 2011
Toronto, Ontario

Dear Friends,

Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

A few additional thoughts:

To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Jarome Iginla was drafted by the Dallas Stars with the 11th pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft then he got shipped to the Calgary Flames via a trade involving Joe Nieuwendyk going 2 Dallas and Jarome coming to Calgary and Jarome has only played for the Flames

Sunday, July 24, 2011

I have always been a big fan of TV especially as a kid!!!! So I decided to share with you what I used to watch on TV when I was a kid!!!

Lets start with Full House which ran from 1987 to 1995!!!! This show was one of my all time favourite show because I had a crush on Candace Cameron and still do:-D

Next is Kidstreet which is a Canadian game that had kids answering question about there partner who was there brother or sister sitting in a race car!!! It was like the It was on the air from 1988 to 1992!!! I use to watch it every morning before going to school!!!!

Finally we have Facts Of Life is about girls at a boarding school!!!! It was on the air from 1979 to 1988!!!!

This only a few of the shows that I used to watch so there will be another post of more of the shows I used watch when I was younger!!!!

Monday, July 11, 2011

SYUKEYEVO, Russia -- Rescuers say there is little hope of finding any more people alive after an overloaded tourist boat sank in the Volga River, killing 128 people in Russia's worst river accident in three decades.

Rescuers say the bodies of 40 children may be trapped in the playroom of a pleasure boat that went down in a heavy storm.

Rescuers used life vests to bring dozens of bodies to shore in a grim recovery operation accompanied by wails from grieving parents and anger from the Kremlin over what seemed to be basic transport security lapses.

The worst river boat disaster since 1983 came on top of a recent series of deadly Russian plane crashes and other technical glitches that highlighted the vast work the country needs to do to upgrade its Soviet era infrastructure.

But the pain of what happened on one of Russia's most important rivers became increasingly unbearable on Monday as the hours passed and the number of survivors refused to edge up beyond the 79 people reported on Sunday.

Russia's emergency minister told President Dmitry Medvedev 208 people made it on board the Bulgaria in gross violation of rules that permitted only 140 people to use the 56-year-old craft.

Other reports said the Bulgaria had not undergone renovations since 1980 and was equipped with only two of the four required rescue boats - with even those not being lowered because the craft was swallowed by the waters within minutes.

Medvedev responded by demanding a review of Russia's entire transportation infrastructure and requesting inquiries into why the ship had sailed with a broken left engine and without an operating licence.

"We have enough old tubs floating around," Medvedev sternly told a government meeting in reference to outdated vessels.

"Based on the information we have today, the ship was in an unsuitable condition," Medvedev said in nationally televised remarks.

The range of violations detected on the ship are a particular embarrassment to Russian officials who are preparing the country for major international events such as the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and the 2018 football World Cup.

Russian infrastructure problems and corruption have raised the most serious questions among organiser of both events and Medvedev has been at pains in recent months to convince the global community of imminent improvements.

The mood at the site of the disaster on Monday switched from shock to horror and disbelief.

Rescuers spent nearly 24 hours scouring the turbulent waters before encountering a Bulgaria cargo hold that was set up as a children's playpen with a special sandlot.

Officials said their worst fears were confirmed with that find.

"The divers inspected the craft and found 30 to 40 children in the cargo hold," a member of the rescue operation told the Interfax news agency.

His comments supported earlier survivors' reports of dozens of children entering the playpen only moments before the boat sank.

The rescuer said the children's bodies will be recovered only after the entire ship is raised in a delicate operation requiring the help of special barges equipped with cranes.

"The current is very strong in that section of the river," the rescuer said.

Officials are preparing a series of criminal investigations into why the Bulgaria set sail this weekend without a proper operating licence and whether criminal negligence was involved.

Russia's transportation minister said he planned to investigate survivor accounts of how a barge and an oil tanker had passed the stricken craft without stopping while people struggled in the water for their lives.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Homeless man charged with stalking Mormon church president

SALT LAKE CITY — A homeless man was charged Friday with stalking the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Benjamin Tucker Staples, 36, was charged with stalking, a class A misdemeanor.

Salt Lake police officers were called to the LDS Church Office Building, 50 E. North Temple, on July 5 after receiving a report of a trespasser. Officers were told Staples had been to the building about five times since June 25 asking to speak with President Thomas S. Monson.

prior appearance that he is not to return to the premises," the charges filed in 3rd District Court state. "Each prior incident, the defendant was arrested and booked into the jail."

Staples, who has the alias of "Jesus Christ" listed in the Salt Lake County Jail booking information, told officers "he intends to keep returning to the offices" until he meets President Monson, the charges state.

Each time, he refused to leave voluntarily, "choosing instead to be arrested by police," according to the charges.

"Church security is concerned for the safety of the president and those employed in the building because of defendant's persistence even after being told not to return and given a written trespass order," the charges state.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Great article from the Calgary Herald on Sven Baertschi the Flames first pick in this years Draft!!!!

Baertschi's Calgary connection grows

BY VICKI HALL, CALGARY HERALD JULY 6, 2011

Sven Baertschi is beginning to believe in the mysterious power of coincidences.

"At the start of the season, my roommate was Spencer Bennett, and he was drafted to Calgary here," the newly-signed 18-year-old said Tuesday at Calgary Flames prospects camp "The first day, I ask him if he's got a shirt I can sleep in.

"He gave me a Calgary Flames shirt. I slept the whole season in that shirt, then to get drafted by Calgary, and now the world championship is in Calgary, so that's . . . ."

Karma?

"Karma, yeah."

The karma tripled Tuesday with the announcement Baertschi's native Switzerland is part of Pool A at the world junior hockey championships.

Pool A will play the round-robin in Calgary, so Flames fans can keep close tabs on the future Flame.

Pool B -a group that includes Canada and the United States -is assigned to Edmonton.

All medal-round games are slated for Calgary.

Are the world juniors a big deal for a kid from Switzerland?

"That's for sure," said Baertschi, Calgary's first-round selection (11th overall) at the 2011 entry draft. It's going to be fun.

"It's special."

Will he serve as captain of the Swiss?

"I'm not sure," he said. "You never know."

The round-robin portion of the tournament opens Dec. 26 and runs through Dec. 31. The medal round is slated for Jan. 2 to Jan. 5 at the Saddledome.

Group A, playing in Calgary, is composed of the defending gold medallists Russia, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden and Baertschi's Switzerland. Group B, playing in Edmonton, includes Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and the United States.

Markus Granlund, drafted 45th overall by the Flames, is expected to suit up for his native Finland. Team Canada has invited Patrick Holland to the summer development camp next month in Edmonton.

"I'm not getting too far ahead of myself," said Holland, a seventh round (193rd overall) selection of the Flames in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

"I'm sure if there's a ghost roster right now, I wouldn't be on anybody's list.

"I'm just going to go there, do the best I can, and do the best I can do. It would be super exciting Anything to put a Team Canada sweater on. That would be awesome."